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North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Herpetology collection Project ID: 00000C683 Public
22 Media · 10 Specimens · Managed by: Edward Stanley, Sarah McGrath-Blsaer

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' herpetology collection, started in the late 1800s by Museum co-founder C.S. Brimley, contains over 84,300 cataloged records (March 2015) that consist of approximately 265,000 specimens. It is one of the largest and most complete regional collections in the United States. Approximately 80% of the collection consists of North Carolina material, although at least 47 states, 58 countries, and 675 species are represented. Other states with substantial representation include California, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Other countries with substantial representation include Laos, Vietnam, and Gabon. Most of the specimens have been accumulated since the 1960s when Emeritus Curator of Herpetology William Palmer, then Curator of Lower Vertebrates, began caring for the collections. In 2014, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences acquired most of the herpetology collections at the Charleston Museum and Appalachian State University (R. Wayne Van Devender’s collection), and these are currently being incorporated. The completed processing of these two acquisitions will make the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ herpetology collection the major holdings for South Carolina, as well as North Carolina. Other significant past acquisitions include Duke University (Joseph Bailey's collection), Davidson College (E. E. Brown's collection), and Virginia Commonwealth University (Charles Blem's collection). The collection houses fluid-preserved specimens, skeletons, skins, tissues for molecular analyses, and other materials. Photographic vouchers, field notes, other museums' records of North Carolina holdings, and specimen data sheets are also maintained as part of the materials documenting these resources. Researchers and the management community use the collection to identify, document geographic distributions, learn the biology, and determine the conservation status of populations and species of amphibians & reptiles in North Carolina and the world beyond.

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List of media items in this team
  ID Part Object Taxonomy Type Date Added Publication Status  
000069531 Skull NCSM:Herp:84971 Takydromus sexlineatus Mesh 2019-02-09 Restricted Download  
000069530 Skull NCSM:Herp:84971 Takydromus sexlineatus Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-09 Restricted Download  
000069149 head NCSM:Herp:25699 Ophisaurus mimicus Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-07 Restricted Download  
000069146 Whole body NCSM:Herp:25699 Ophisaurus mimicus Volumetric Image Series 2019-02-07 Restricted Download  
000059677 head NCSM:Herp:14128 Eurycea junaluska Volumetric Image Series 2018-10-13 Restricted Download  
000059673 whole body NCSM:Herp:15659 Rana heckscheri Volumetric Image Series 2018-10-13 Restricted Download  
000059672 head NCSM:Herp:17335 Eurycea chamberlaini Volumetric Image Series 2018-10-13 Restricted Download  
000059671 body NCSM:Herp:17335 Eurycea chamberlaini Volumetric Image Series 2018-10-13 Restricted Download  
000059662 whole body NCSM:Herp:12236 Rana sylvatica Volumetric Image Series 2018-10-13 Restricted Download  
000039874 16bit tiffs ncsm:ncsm-herp:13265 Sacalia quadriocellata Volumetric Image Series 2018-01-25 Restricted Download  
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